Counting the Stars
by yukuro
Summary: Unable to fall asleep, Yuuri makes a late night visit to Conrad's room and discovers the horrible consequences of being situated next to the honeymoon suite. [ConradxYuuri . ConYuu]


**Disclaimer:** not owned by yuku D:

**Pairing: **Conrad x Yuuri

**Counting the Stars**

_By: yukuro_

The stars were bright, the moon was at its peak, and they had been traveling the entire day by horseback. Despite all these factors, Yuuri still lay restlessly awake, staring blankly at the poorly plastered hotel ceiling. Wolfram, in contrast, was soundly sleeping, having drifted off the very moment he dropped himself on the squeaking hotel bed, too tired to even begin to complain about the shoddy quality of the room. Yuri was amazed at this aspect. The blond almost always had some negative remark or sarcastic comment about the hotels they lodged in.

After rolling about on his bed for the thousandth time, Yuuri finally let out a sigh of defeat and sat up. The mattress let out a deafening creak, making Yuuri freeze. Slowly, he turned to peek a glance at Wolfram. Much to his relief, the blond had not even stirred in the slightest. Yuuri let out his breath in relief as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose to his feet.

The young maou quietly tiptoed to the window, pulling the shutters back and parting the glass doors. He leaned forward on the sill and happily gazed out at the twinkling lights of the village. The flickering lights mostly belonged to taverns and bars that only became alive at night, as most families had already been tucked away in bed at the present time of night.

As he leaned a bit further out, Yuuri noticed out of the corner of his eye another window of the hotel on the same wall emitting streaming light. Curiously, he counted the number of windows away from his own and realized that it was indeed Conrad's room. He gazed at the brightened window for a moment, wondering vaguely what Conrad could be doing up in the dead of night. Glancing over his shoulder once more at Wolfram, Yuuri finally decided to make a late night visit to Conrad's room. Wolfram wouldn't mind—he was completely and utterly asleep. Surely even a stampede of horses would be unable to wake him now. Silently as he could with the creaking floor, Yuuri tiptoed out and down the dimly lit hall.

Yuuri knocked lightly on Conrad's door, hoping not to disturb the other residents. As the door slowly creaked open, Yuuri winced and squinted his eyes as the bright light from Conrad's room flooded into the dark hall. Once his eyes properly adjusted to the change of lighting, Yuuri gazed up at Conrad and found himself rather speechless and slightly flushed in embarrassment.

In the doorframe, blinking with surprised, was a slightly disordered Conrad, hair mussed, clothes slightly loose and rumpled. Of course, Yuuri had never witnessed Conrad in such a state before, the man was usually always neat and proper even after running numerous laps around the castle, and for some reason, Yuuri felt his cheeks warm a bit. Just as he was about to turn around and tiptoe back down the hall in mortification, Conrad broke out in his usual calm and gentle smile, making Yuuri feel at ease again.

"It's late," Conrad observed, smiling lovingly down at his young king. "It's not healthy to still be up at this hour, Yuuri."

At the sound of his name coming from Conrad's lips instead of the formal "heika" that he usually heard, Yuuri's embarrassment melted away completely, and he could only smile back as a warm blanket of happiness wrapped around him. "Sorry to disturb you, Conrad," he apologized rather sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "I just couldn't fall asleep."

Understanding crossed Conrad's face. He simply stepped to the side and pulled the slightly creaking door open, allowing Yuuri access to the light-filled room. The dark haired boy smiled gratefully before slipping into the brightly lit room with Conrad slowly shutting the door behind him, blocking out the stream of light into the hallway.

Conrad extended his arm, offering Yuuri a seat on his rickety bed. Smiling sheepishly again, Yuuri accepted the offer and seat himself slowly, eliciting a rather loud creak. He winced slightly at the sound. Conrad simply chuckled, making Yuuri flush brightly. The remained in silence for a moment before Yuuri finally asked in curiosity, "What are you doing up this late, Conrad?"

The man simply offered a smile, and before a verbal response could be given, sounds coming from the room next door answered the stunned teen's question. Conrad could not help but let out a soft laugh of amusement at Yuuri's steadily reddening face as he came to slow realization of just what the rapid sounding of creaks and moans coming from the other side of the paper-thin walls meant. As the teen mutely pointed over his shoulder at the wall with wide, questioning eyes, Conrad explained with a grin, "I have the room next to the honeymoon suite. Does that answer your question?"

Yuuri could only nod in stunned silence, his burning face not showing signs of cooling anytime soon. He gazed up at Conrad helplessly, searching for a way to distract himself. Conrad was still grinning in amusement and began lightly swirling the glass of wine he had previously been drinking. Yuuri continued to gaze, mesmerized, at Conrad as the man sipped the sparkling red liquid in a very gentlemanly manner that somehow made Yuuri feel awed.

"Is there anything I can do for you tonight?" Conrad asked politely with a gentle smile, only making Yuuri flush more for some unknown reason. Conrad chuckled as the dark haired boy flailed his arms, completely flustered after taking the nature of his question in the wrong way. Satisfaction on his face, Conrad teased lightly, "You look a bit red, heika. You don't have a fever no do you?"

"_Conrad_…" Yuuri groaned in exasperation, only making Conrad chuckle more. "And don't call me 'heika.' You're the one who named me, remember?"

"Ah, sorry, Yuuri. Force of habit," the man apologized with a smile while taking another sip of wine. He turned around to face the boy again and offered yet another smile. "Well then, Yuuri. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Not really," Yuuri admitted with a flush as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I just wanted to see you."

"You flatter me," Conrad laughed softly, making the boy gaze down at the floor in mortification. "You're too cute, Yuuri. Shall your nazukeoya give you a goodnight kiss?"

Yuuri's jaw nearly dropped open at these words. Bewildered, his head shot upwards to stare wide-eyed at Conrad, only to find the man slightly flushed and looking a bit lightheaded. Slight frown forming on his face, Yuuri asked slowly, "Don't tell me… Conrad, are you _drunk_?"

"Probably a little," Conrad admitted wholeheartedly, raising his glass a bit so that the red liquid captured the light illuminating from the ceiling. Laughing softly, he continued, "The couple next door has been at it for quite some time. It was a bit difficult getting to sleep, you see. Young love, I suppose."

Well, that certain explained Conrad's rumpled appearance. With that much noise and all that wine, it had to be difficult to stay neat and tidy as usual, Yuuri supposed a bit gloomily. He promptly stood up and stomped his way over to Conrad, creating loud squeaks as he went. Once he stood firmly in front of Conrad's surprised face, Yuuri yanked the glass out of the man's hand before stating, "I think that's enough for you, Conrad. You'll never get to sleep at this rate. Although it _is_ a waste… Ah, I'll just pour it back in the bottle."

"I don't think that will work," Conrad laughed, motioning to the bottle with an impossibly thin neck and even smaller mouth.

Yuuri frowned, brain attempting to process a way to not let the wine go to waste without having to make Conrad drink the rest. Hardly giving his brain enough time to process, he rashly dumped the rest of the sparkling liquid in his own mouth, making Conrad blink in surprise. Placing the glass back down on the table, Yuuri let his tongue hang out in disgust. "Ugh… That was probably a bad idea."

"I concur," Conrad laughed as Yuuri began to sway awkwardly. He reached out and carefully took hold of the dazed teen, directing him to take a seat on the bed again. Smiling as Yuuri brought his hands to his head dizzily, Conrad muttered tenderly, "As usual, you completely mystify me."

"I admit that was stupid," Yuuri groaned, reaching out blindly for Conrad so he could rest his head against the man's arm. Miserably, he sniffed, "I think I'm drunk already…"

"That's what they call 'irony,' Yuuri," Conrad said cheerfully, seating himself beside the teen so Yuuri could comfortably snuggle up against him.

Pouting slightly, Yuuri began, "_Conrad_…"

"I love you."

Yuuri frowned as the breathily declared statement erupted from the other side of the wall the very instant after he had called Conrad's name. Conrad was still grinning in amusement, but Yuuri was failing to see the humor in the situation. He sighed lightly and continued draw himself closer to Conrad's inviting arms. Sniffing, he muttered, "Noisy."

At that moment, as if just to spite Yuuri, another monstrous thump sounded from the other side of the wall. Conrad stifled a laugh as Yuuri glared daggers at the wall. Once the teen finally managed to calm down again, Conrad suggested, "Maybe you should actually get to bed now."

"Do you…mind if I stay here?" Yuuri mumbled, diverting his embarrassed gaze from Conrad's surprised one. "I mean," he sputtered, attempting to think up excuses, "I'm dizzy and my legs are all wobbly! I'll probably crash into the wall and end up waking the entire—"

"It's fine, Yuuri," Conrad cut in with a smile, interrupting Yuuri's incoherent rambling. With this response, Yuuri only found himself flushing a darker shade of red, and it was not the fault of the wine either.

Yuuri obediently scrambled into Conrad's bed while the man rose to blow out the candles. The dark haired boy watched intently as Conrad made his way around the room, blowing out candles as he went. Once the room was dark and the only sources of light were the stars twinkling from outside the window, Conrad returned to the bedside while Yuuri pulled the sheet up to his nose in mortification.

Much to his surprise, Conrad leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead before retreating a step. Yuuri blinked in confusion. As usual, his mouth opened before he could properly think about what he was saying, "Aren't you going to sleep with me, Conrad?"

Conrad raised an eyebrow as Yuuri instantly realized what the connotation of his words were and slapped a hand over his mouth before diving under the sheets. Conrad's laugh echoed through the room. Beneath the sheets, Yuuri was beating himself up literally. He tugged on his own cheeks mercilessly, chastising himself for saying such embarrassing things. A sudden dip on the edge of the bed made him freeze. Slowly, he pulled the sheet down from over his head to steal a glance at Conrad.

"It really is time for you to get some sleep," Conrad said with a smile, gently pulling on Yuuri's shirt so that the teen had properly lain down again. Then, much more to the teen's embarrassment, Conrad laid down beside him and grinned in almost a mischievous way. Yuuri felt his body go limp.

They spent a few moments in silence, and in Yuuri's case, tossing and turning. After Yuuri switched sleeping positions for the hundredth time already, Conrad finally asked in amusement, "Can't sleep anymore?"

Yuuri could only nod gloomily. He was actually exhausted, but something about Conrad's presence beside him made his eyes stick wide open. Or perhaps the fact that the couple next door was still going at it had something to do with his insomnia.

Outside, the stars were glittering lazily. Yuuri had to crane his neck a bit to see them over Conrad's shoulder. Shrugging slightly, he said aloud, "I guess I'll just count the stars to fall asleep."

Conrad could have laughed again, but he managed with a smile instead since Yuuri looked completely focused on counting that his eyes reflected the gleam of the stars. Conrad watched silently as the stars reappeared in the boy's eyes. The creaks from the room next door were growing quieter, but neither had noticed.

After a short while, Yuuri let out a yawn. Shifting a bit closer to the older man's warmth, he muttered sleepily, "Are you counting, Conrad?"

Reaching forward to smooth the teen's hair, Conrad whispered quietly, more to himself than to Yuuri, "Ah, but it looks like they've gone to sleep since the stars are in your eyes."

Once the words left his mouth, Conrad had to chuckle a bit in embarrassment. Stating his feelings aloud, he muttered, "That was embarrassing."

Luckily for him, Yuuri had already fallen asleep.

Smiling, Conrad closed his eyes.

"Good night. I love you."

It was undeterminable which room that had come from.

Owari.

* * *

******A/N:** Oh, the fluff/sap! It kills me! It burns my eyes! Aaaarrgh! x.x; Yeah. This is what happens when you eat cotton candy at midnight while attempting to study for tests. No, no, no. Sidetracked horribly. Bad. Bad. Cracked results. Oh my. This is definitely cotton candy put down into words and translated into ConYuu. And it's painful. For me at least. 

Comment! It keeps me encouraged. (Low self-esteem? Lol. The question is, should I actually be encouraged...)


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